Primary spontaneous pneumothorax most commonly occurs in young, tall, lean males. The estimated recurrence rate is 23-50% after the first episode and increases to 60% after the second pneumothorax. The pathogenesis of this benign disease remains unclear. Generally, rupture of the emphysematous change or blebs in the apex of the lung is considered as the cause of pneumothorax. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the molecular pathogenesis of blebs formation or emphysematous change of the lung in these young, healthy patients.

Primary spontaneous pneumothorax most commonly occurs in young, tall, lean males. The estimated recurrence rate is 23-50% after the first episode and increases to 60% after the second pneumothorax. The pathogenesis of this benign disease remains unclear. Generally, rupture of the emphysematous change or blebs in the apex of the lung is considered as the cause of pneumothorax. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the molecular pathogenesis of blebs formation or emphysematous change of the lung in these young, healthy patients. The blebs resected from the pneumothorax patients will be used for RNA and protein levels analyses. The adjacent normal lung tissue will be used as a control for comparison.

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Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01135004